Trade Recovery: Laying the Groundwork for the Establishment of a New Zealand-United States Action Plan for Application in the Event of a Serious Trade Disruption

with funding from the sponsors of the Ian Axford (New Zealand) Fellowships in Public Policy

About the author

Louritha (Lou) Green is an International Trade Liaison for US Customs and Border Protection in Washington, DC. Lou also spent five years as an attorney in the agency’s Office of Chief Counsel. Her areas of expertise include international negotiations, supply chain security, and trade recovery. Lou is a native of Mineral Springs Arkansas and received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Arkansas in 1994. She also holds a Maser in Public Policy from Harvard University and a Juris Doctor from Tulane University Law School.

During Lou’s Ian Axford Fellowship exchange to New Zealand she was based at the New Zealand Customs Service in Wellington, where she researched establishment of a New Zealand-United States joint action plan for recovery from serious trade disruptions.

Abstract

The New Zealand Customs Service and US Customs and Border Protection have been at the forefront of setting supply chain security standards for movement of cargo. Using a combination of well-trained personnel, highly-developed technology, and a partnership based on trust, both countries have developed highly effective risk management systems. However, no matter how well a country has designed plans to protect itself, a significant incident that has a substantial negative impact on trade could occur. The incident could be due to a man-made or natural disaster, and its effects could be long lasting or short lived.

To address this issue, the United States and New Zealand should work together to establish a post-event plan that would establish protocols that allow an efficient and effective response to the incident. The concept behind this response is called “trade recovery”. This project is meant to lay the foundation for the development of trade recovery protocols between the customs administrations of the United States and New Zealand. The findings of the project show that the New Zealand and the United States customs administrations have the resources and capabilities to develop joint trade recovery protocols, and recommends that they do so.

Table of contents

Acknowledgments
Executive Summary
Introduction

Overviews of the New Zealand Customs Service and US Customs and Border Protection

Risk-management structures of New Zealand and the United States

Trade recovery: A complement to risk management

New Zealand and the US’s approach to contingency planning and trade recovery